Ian Nepomniachtchi has responded to the controversy over Daniil Dubov helping Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship match. The challenger doesn't show the same anger as others have on his behalf, but does state that it would have been "more logical" for Daniil to "remain neutral". On the other hand, he points out that the games where Daniil's influence were clearest were the ones where he had the best chance of picking up a win. Ian also talks in depth about the blunder in Game 8, which all but sealed his match fate.
Former World Champions Vishy Anand, Zhu Chen and Nona Gaprindashvili joined Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi at the Closing Ceremony | photo: Eric Rosen, FIDE
The 2021 FIDE World Chess Championship match was official over on Sunday, with the Closing Ceremony seeing Magnus Carlsen crowned World Chess Champion for a 5th time. You can rewatch it below.
It had ultimately gone like a dream for the past and future king.
He's even got social media down to a fine art.
Getting thrown into a swimming pool isn't essential for an iconic image | photo: Eric Rosen, FIDE
For Ian Nepomniachtchi, however, the post-mortem is just beginning into what went wrong.
Ian Nepomniachtchi did ultimately manage a smile as he accepted his silver medal from FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, but he made his stay on the stage as brief as possible | photo: Eric Rosen, FIDE
After the loss in Game 6, the longest game in World Chess Championship history, it all went wrong.
One possible scapegoat was Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov, who continued to work for Magnus Carlsen's team. Ian didn't see it that way, however, as he talked to Vladimir Barsky for the Russian Chess Federation website. He did feel Daniil should have remained neutral, but also claimed that in fact he got his best chances in games that Daniil influenced. We've translated the interview below, and it begins with Ian addressing the issue of Dubov's involvement.
Ian Nepomniachtchi: Above all, I think, it’s an aspect of the business, because Daniil has been cooperating with Carlsen’s team since 2018. On the other hand, we also worked together for around two years, so it would be more logical for him, in my view, to remain neutral. On behalf of the team, however, we should thank Dubov, because my greatest winning chances in individual games came after those ideas which, it seems, can be attributed to Daniil’s handiwork.
Vladimir Barsky: Which games do you have in mind?
Above all, the second game. A very interesting idea in the Catalan — you have to give it credit. If before that game there were some doubts as to whether Daniil was on Magnus’ team or not, after that they practically disappeared. Also, as far as I understand, in the sixth game the move-order wasn’t chosen without Dubov’s influence. In principle, in both cases, I had pretty good chances of victory, so, among other things, I’d like to congratulate him on his great success!
Magnus gained a big advantage in Game 2, but then blundered into real trouble
Dubov considers that Team Magnus surpassed you in opening preparation. What do you think about that?
It’s very hard to say. The openings were quite specific. We tried to play in a principled manner, testing out various concepts in the Anti-Marshall, while our opponent made different “serves”. It seems to me that it’s now very difficult to get anything at all with White. In the second game, however, a rather uncontrolled struggle ensued — that’s the success of Magnus’ coaching team and Daniil personally!
But joking aside, the idea was very good. In any case, we at times got slightly better, or clearly better, but you have to give Magnus credit: he played very strongly coming out of the opening. In the majority of games with Black he demonstrated an extremely high level. Most likely his knowledge was already coming to an end at that point, but, it seems, he had a clear understanding of what to do next. He made 4-5 moves after which the position had largely dried up.
It seems that along with Vladimir Potkin, his girlfriend and the visiting Sergey Karjakin, Ian may have had Evgeny Tomashevsky and Ildar Khairullin with him in Dubai during the match
Carlsen played strictly on the defensive with Black?
Objectively speaking, playing to seize the initiative with Black is pretty optimistic in a match situation: you should do it only in case of absolute necessity. Neither of the sides was concerned about getting some kind of big opening advantage. You also have to note a very practical decision: after taking the lead, he stopped playing for a win with either colour. That decision surprised me a little, disconcerted me, but it proved fully justified. If I’d blundered less, the story would no doubt have been a little different, but it was very revealing, for example, that twice in the Petroff he refused to go for a fight with White. Especially the move 10.Qe1+ in the eighth game speaks for itself. That was part of a strategy that brought success.
Why didn’t you reply 10…Qe7? After all, that would immediately have led to a draw, and at the press conference you could have poked Magnus — so you’re scared of the Petroff?
Probably at that moment I was already unable to take optimal decisions. Frankly speaking, I didn’t see a difference between 10..Kf8 and 10…Qe7.
After 10…Qe7 queens are immediately exchanged, but as it was they remained on the board.
Agreed, but it seemed to me that it was very likely that queens would be exchanged anyway after 10…Kf8, and I didn’t see a fundamental difference. Of course, that tells you that my condition at that moment was already very far from optimal. I needed a rest day. It came right after that game, but it was already a little too late. Of course, in 9 cases out of 10 the move 10…Qe7 would have been made without thinking. There’s some irony in the fact that while Magnus was thinking for 40 minutes I came to the conclusion that it was very likely he’d play 10.Qe1+ and the game, essentially, would be over — more likely than not after that there would have been some pretty routine exchanges. In my thoughts I was probably already elsewhere — prematurely, before the whistle, while in fact after 10…Kf8 we got the kind of position… Most likely it’s still equal, but there isn’t and can’t be any clear draw; even the pure bishop endgame will be unpleasant for Black because of the move h5, despite the entirely symmetrical pawn structure.
And then, leaving the blunder 21…b5? 22.Qa3+! aside, the character of the struggle was already favourable for White, on the whole. Not a drop of risk and long-term pressure. That doesn’t of course absolve the side playing Black; after 10…Kf8 the position turned out to be a little more unpleasant than I expected. Why not 10…Qe7? It’s better to leave that as a rhetorical question.
Does all of this still need to be analysed?
More likely than not, there’s an adequate explanation, but it won’t fit in the format of a blitz interview. Overall, when I was awaiting the move 10.Qe1+, it seems that mentally I was already on the rest day.
Magnus Carlsen never looked back after winning a 2nd game, as Ian Nepomniachtchi collapsed | photo: Eric Rosen, FIDE
Other opinions have been expressed on the match and the Dubov “controversy”. Vishy Anand told Grigory Telingater for Championat.ru:
We live in a globalised world, where people calmly work for foreign companies, move to other countries, take foreign players into their football teams and even support football clubs from other countries. At the same time, you can’t say that national ideas are all behind us. If Dubov believes that he’s right, then he’s right. At the same time, I know there will be people who disagree with him. And it seems to me that it’s not so important that someone disagrees with him publicly. It’s more significant if someone personally expresses their disapproval.
Anatoly Karpov told Match.tv:
Previously, under the conditions of the Soviet Union, it was unacceptable. Now everyone is free to dispose of their own fate, their strengths and their energy. It’s probably not patriotic from Dubov’s side. Did he have the right to do it? Most likely, yes. But there’s one question which could change the whole situation — Dubov is a member of the Russian team. If he gets paid as a member of the Russian team, then he had neither the moral nor any other right to help Carlsen in a match against a Russian chess player.
Alexander Grischuk summed up the match as a whole, talking to Alina Lavrova for Champion.com:
The first loss, you might say, completely killed Nepomniachtchi. It was a knockdown and Ian never recovered from it. He became a different person. Did Nepomniachtchi have a Plan B? It’s not even about a plan as it’s like in boxing: you can have a plan, but if your head is spinning and your legs give way, then what difference does it make what your plan is? The result is definitely a failure. At the beginning it was an equal struggle, but after the loss it was one-way traffic.
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